The Matanuska Colony: The New Deal in Alaska

September 6, 2008 12:09 PM

" In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered 203 families from the hardest-hit areas of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan the chance to start fresh in a new land, in a fertile Alaskan valley with the melodic name Matanuska."
posted by merelyglib (3 comments total)

Neat. I've always wanted to live in a postcard.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 1:17 PM on September 6, 2008

I immediately thought of the Minnesota accent when I first heard the Palin.
posted by Mental Wimp at 1:30 PM on September 6, 2008

There was a strain of Alaskan-bred cannabis going around California for a few years recently called "Matanuska Thunderfuck". I wondered whether Matanuska was a real place. Thanks for clearing that up.
posted by telstar at 1:39 PM on September 6, 2008